The Fire Within: An Unforgettable Honeymoon
by The Mayor of Ninjago City
Summary: It's Kai and Sam's honeymoon! They have traveled to Shanville to attend the annual Musijago music festival, but they soon become kidnapping victims. Will they live to see their one-week anniversary, let alone their one-year milestone? This story is the latest in the "The Fire Within" series, which was originated by measuremesky. She gave me permission to use her material.
1. Journey

**AUTHOR'S NOTE (2019-09-02):**

**Howdy! This is The Mayor of Ninjago City with a new story called **_**The Fire Within: An Unforgettable Honeymoon**_**. I am posting the starting chapter today in honor of my FOUR-YEAR FANFICTION ANNIVERSARY! My profile says August 22, 2015 is my join date, but I consider September 2, 2015 to be my official date, for that is when I gave myself my mayoral pseudonym and posted Chapter 1 of my very first fanfic, **_**The Fire Within a Ninjago Cowboy**_**. It is truly amazing how time flies!**

**The tale you are about to read below takes place one year after **_**The Fire Within**_**, a popular Ninjago fanfic authored by measuremesky, a family member of mine. Her story narrated how our favorite red ninja, Kai, developed a relationship with Samantha, a cute college girl. I got permission from measuremesky to use her material to write my own works about how the relationship grew, and thus there is now a **_**The Fire Within**_ **series. All of these stories take place after the Tournament of Elements season and assume that no other season has occurred. (At the time measuremesky began to pen her work, in the spring of 2015, the Tournament season was the newest Ninjago season to be aired.) **

**The **_**Honeymoon**_ **installment of my **_**The Fire Within**_ **series takes place right after my story **_**The Fire Within: A Mayoral Vote**_**. Kai and Samantha have been married for one day. They know nothing about the scary events experienced by Lou (Cole's father) and Eileen (the Ninjago City mayor) due to Sebastian the sorcerer in the **_**Mayoral Vote**_ **story, for on that night, the young people were busy in the Adams Hotel's honeymoon suite (*wink wink*) and the other ninja brothers had vowed not to interrupt their special week of honeymooning with any distressing news. Now the new Mr. and Mrs. Smith are heading for a few days of vacation after the stress of their very public wedding.**

**In the paragraphs below, references are made to events narrated in **_**The Fire Within, A Degree in Danger**_ **(measuremesky's followup to _The Fire Within_), and **_**The Fire Within: Rehearsal of Danger**_**. I wish to thank measuremesky for her contributions to the writing of the first chapter below. **

**I hope you, my dear reader, will enjoy this first chapter of **_**The Fire Within: An Unforgettable Honeymoon**_**!**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - Journey**

**(co-written with measuremesky)**

The sky outside the train window displayed the beautiful colors of the sunset, but even though the sun had only just barely disappeared below the horizon, Kai Smith - a Protector of Ninjago and the ninja of fire - was ready to settle into a good night's sleep.

However, he didn't want to succumb to deep slumber just yet. In only two more hours, the train would be reaching his destination.

There were a number of reasons why it was hard to keep his eyes open as he rested on the bed in one of the train's small private staterooms. One reason was that the steady rumble of the big metal car over the tracks was hypnotic. In fact, it had already hypnotized the beautiful young woman nestled next to him. Samantha, his brand new bride as of yesterday afternoon, had already surrendered to a nap, looking peaceful and cute in her turquoise tank top and denim shorts. Kai looked at his dozing wife and smiled, squeezing her shoulders with the arm he had wrapped around her.

Another reason why Mr. and Mrs. Smith were both so tired was due to the inordinate amount of activity during the previous 48 hours.

For starters, the evening of the wedding rehearsal dinner party in downtown Ninjago City had been complicated by the kidnapping of the earth ninja Cole and his girlfriend Brooke by three bank robbers, and several tense hours were spent inwardly worrying about the fate of their friends while simultaneously displaying outward lightheartedness for the benefit of the unsuspecting guests. Fortunately, Cole and Brooke were able to save themselves and assist the police in bringing the thugs to justice.

On the wedding day itself, the morning had begun at the Adams Hotel, where Kai and the groomsmen were staying during the festive weekend. Kai carefully dressed in his special ninja wedding uniform, custom sewn for the ceremony. Then he shared a special brunch with his groomsmen in a private dining room at the hotel. And finally he faced the media frenzy upon arriving at the Ninjago University chapel, the ceremony site, for the wedding of an official Protector of Ninjago was considered a significant media event. And all of that took place even before the one o'clock ceremony, which lasted ninety minutes and was televised nationally.

After the ceremony, there were many posed photographs taken. Kai's jaw almost hurt from all the smiling. Then there was the ride in a motorcade from the chapel back to the Adams Hotel for the post-ceremony reception and dinner. Champagne toasts. Dinner. Dancing. All in all, these past 48 hours were probably the most active non-combat hours of his life, and no doubt they were Sam's most active two days of her life as well.

And a third reason for the couple's current tiredness had to do with the insufficient amount of sleep the newlyweds had gotten last night in the honeymoon suite at the Adams Hotel, for the couple had been - to put it simply - busy. And the busyness lasted until well past sunrise.

Since noon today, the couple had been traveling in one of this train's staterooms. The experienced travel agent, through whom Kai had booked the honeymoon arrangements, had suggested reserving the room for privacy reasons, knowing that the couple's faces were going to be broadcast on all the television networks and therefore would be easily recognizable to the general public. The train line provided the stateroom free of charge as their wedding gift to a Protector of Ninjago and his bride.

The newly married Mr. and Mrs. Smith were now en route to their first destination of Shanville, a city famous for musical entertainment. Singers flocked to Shanville from all over Ninjago to seek performing gigs at one of the many bars and restaurants, as part of their quest to get noticed by recording executives and thus land contracts to record albums and sing at bigger venues.

The most famous singers were invited to perform at Musijago, Shanville's annual music festival which always occurred at this time of the year and was held over a period of several days. This year, there was a new addition to the list of Musijago's corporate sponsors: Borg Industries, the corporation at which Sam had served an internship last summer. Cyrus Borg, the company's leader, wished to expand his organization's name recognition among young people. And, as a wedding gift to Sam and Kai, Mr. Borg had pre-paid for the couple's food and lodging expenses during their time in Shanville.

Suddenly, Kai felt his wife stir. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and he was instantly greeted by a sea of blue. They were beautiful, just like her.

"You tired?" he whispered, rubbing her shoulder gently.

"Yeah," she mumbled, still groggy from her hour-long nap.

Kai nodded. "Me, too," he smiled. "But yesterday was well worth it."

He flashed her a look, meaning he meant more than just the daytime events of yesterday.

Sam felt her face flush crimson in remembrance of last night. Kai's strong arms wrapped around her. His warm body against hers. Kisses full of unadulterated passion. Just the memory was enough to make her dizzy. Last fall, when the two of them had found themselves alone in that Ninjago University dorm room and had almost let their passion for each other run amok, she had put the brakes on the action but could imagine what it would have been like if she had allowed his pleasurable touches to continue.

Last night, reality was even better than imagination.

To hide her flushed cheeks, she smiled into the fabric of his T-shirt as she snuggled closer to him. "How much longer till we get to Shanville?" she mumbled into his chest.

Kai glanced out the window, admiring the last rays of sun as they slowly disappeared under the horizon. Then he checked the small clock on the side table.

"A little under two hours. So we've got a good chunk of time left to go."

"That's good," she happily sighed into his chest. "I like spending time with you."

"And I like spending time with you, too." The red ninja gazed down at her warmly. She was so beautiful. He really didn't deserve her; after the way he had treated her last summer during his pursuit of Skylor, he was surprised that Sam had stuck around. But all that was water under the bridge now. All that mattered now was that they were together. Forever.

Sam closed her eyes. "I'm going to try to nap a little more. Are you gonna sleep, too?" she asked.

Kai's eyes moved from her to the window, gazing out at the newly darkened landscape. "Maybe I will," he said, settling himself into a more comfortable position. Sam readjusted herself so that she was on her side, with her arm draped over his abdomen, holding him close.

Comforted by the feeling of his wife next to him, Kai closed his eyes, waiting for the fatigue to overtake him.

However, after lying there for about ten minutes or so, he still hadn't been able to go to sleep.

"You still awake, Sam?" he asked.

The blonde opened her eyes. "Yeah." She wasn't having much luck falling asleep either.

"Do you wanna order something to eat?" he asked. He wasn't particularly hungry himself, but figured she might be.

Sam shook her head. "No. I'm not really that hungry."

"Same."

Taking his arm off her shoulder, Kai rested his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling of the train.

"You looked gorgeous yesterday in your dress," he said after a minute. And he meant it very much so. It was a simple wedding gown, but it had the right balance of modesty and intrigue. He recalled watching her walk down the aisle with it, how her hips swayed slightly from side to side and how her dress seemed to hug her curves without seeming like she was being squeezed to death. It was a perfect ceremony, with the perfect woman.

She felt herself blush at the compliment. "Thanks," she said. "And you looked very handsome in your suit."

"I know. I was pretty good lookin', wasn't I?" he chuckled, earning a nudge from his wife.

"But seriously," he said, recovering from his fit of chuckles. "I'm glad we did this."

He gazed into Sam's soft blue eyes, knowing he could not imagine any other person he would rather be spending the rest of his life with. Sure, she was pretty, but more importantly, there was a light within her that he could not find anywhere else. Even at their young age, he just knew that she was The One, his soulmate.

He remembered promising her parents that he would push her to finish college, and he planned to stick to that promise - she was already enrolled for her third year of school, which would begin in a few weeks. But in the meantime, while everything was still fresh and new, they would enjoy the time that they had together.

"I love you, Kai," Sam said, gazing into his warm brown eyes. Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper.

"I love you, too, Sam," he answered.

He leaned in for a kiss, and Sam eagerly gave into him as he pressed his lips against hers. It was a slow, sensuous kiss, so full of passion that it would only belong in a romance novel.

He gently cupped her face in his hands, lightly caressing her jawline with his fingers. One kiss turned into two, two into three, and so on, until they both had to finally pull away for air.

"You are the greatest thing that's ever happened to me," he whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Sam glanced away shyly as the red ninja admired her features. Her cheeks were slightly rosy from the attention, and her soft, pink lips were curled into a small smile. He truly thought she was the cutest thing he ever laid eyes on.

Looking at her, he felt a warmth spread throughout his chest, along with an inexplicable desire - a need - to protect her, to shelter her, and above all else, love her. Love her with every fiber of his being. Every single time he looked at her, he experienced the same feelings. When they had slow-danced together after the ceremony, with her in her wedding dress and him in his formal ninja wedding uniform, something finally clicked, when he had made the breathtaking realization she would be the first thing he saw when he woke up the next day, and every day after that.

Last night had been the greatest night of his life, thanks to her. He vividly remembered the evening quite well, but the nighttime came in flashes. Her soft lips pressed firmly against his. Her warm body underneath him. Her sweet strawberry scent. Leaving nothing less than euphoria.

Kai rolled his body to face her. "You know, Sam, I decided that maybe I am hungry after all, just not for food…"


	2. Meeting Clo

**AUTHOR'S NOTE ****(30 Sep 2019)****:**

**Hi! Hope everyone is fine! **

**I'd like to send a shoutout to LeCinnamonTsundere, my "internet cousin", for faving this story!**

**In the chapter below, the newlyweds are spending time at the Musijago music festival...**

* * *

**Chapter 2 - Meeting Clo**

Wearing their backstage passes on lanyards around their necks, Kai and Sam followed a festival representative down a corridor underneath the Shanville Amphitheatre, which was currently serving as the main stage of Musijago, the largest music festival in Ninjago. As they walked, they could hear the thumping of the beat of a song currently being performed somewhere above their heads.

The couple had just spent time upstairs in the VIP seating of the amphitheater, enjoying two country music recording artists display their talents.

The first singer they watched was Daisy Clampett, a young up-and-coming singer from the village of Shiloh Valley. Her debut album was quickly rising on the charts.

After singing several songs from her new collection, as well as covers from past artists, Daisy performed a duet with her mentor, the veteran singer Clover "Clo" Fielding.

Clo had risen to prominence over a quarter-century ago as part of the duo act The Meadow Girls, which included her twin sister Violet. After Vi's untimely death following a sudden hospitalization, Clo - who was newly married to record company executive Dusty Fielding at that time - continued working in the industry as a solo act, and now she had reached the upper echelons of country music stardom.

After the duet with Clo, Daisy left the stage, and Clo remained to regale the audience with several of her classic hits.

Once Clo's performance was finished, Kai and Sam decided that it would be fun to meet Clo and Daisy, and their special passes - provided by festival sponsor Borg Industries as part of a wedding gift from Cyrus Borg - allowed them to do so. So they located a festival representative to make their request, and now the woman was leading them to the dressing rooms. The halls were fairly empty of people, due to the access restrictions usually put in place during Musijago for security reasons.

The trio turned a corner to traverse another corridor, and soon the rep stopped to double check a clipboard. "Yep, this is the hall Clo is in. She's close to the exit," the rep explained in between chomps on her bubblegum as she gestured in that direction. Through the glass exit doors, Sam and Kai could partially see three tour buses outside, with the letters "C-L-O" painted in red against a black background on each of them. A few workers in matching black T-shirts appeared to be loading the buses, but no fans could be spotted.

"Aren't there usually groupies waiting around a celebrity's bus?" Sam asked.

"Usually yes, but not during Musijago. There are so many acts coming and going in their buses, so it was decided that for safety reasons, no one besides authorized personnel would be allowed in the loading area."

The rep resumed walking, indicating that the couple should follow her. "I suggest you visit Clo first, before Daisy. Clo has a reputation for leaving a venue as soon as she's finished with her performance obligations. I'll walk you down to see Clo, and then when you're ready to see Daisy, knock on this door over here, C6." She gestured toward a closed door as they passed it.

Kai and Sam murmured their agreement. They followed the rep down to Clo's dressing room. Behind the closed door, they could hear the sounds of people arguing and boxes being shoved along the floor.

The rep was not intimidated by the noises. She sharply rapped on the door. "Visitors for Miss Fielding!" she announced.

A young man's voice was heard from the closed-up room. "Miss Fielding is not accepting visitors now!" he snarled.

Kai and Sam began to step away, but the rep was not deterred. She leaned her head close to the door. "It would be a shame if Borg Industries pulled its sponsorship of next year's Musijago due to its guests being rudely treated...and a real shame if Miss Fielding didn't receive any more invitations to sing here!"

"Just a minute," the man's voice conceded, but without hiding his annoyance. There was some bustling behind the door, and then it opened to reveal Clo herself.

"So sorry for the misunderstanding with my nephew," she apologized in a syrupy accent, holding her well manicured hand against her cheek in a gesture of embarrassment. "We're all just a little tired after being on the road all summer, and we're a little anxious to get back home to Minhamburg to rest before the fall touring season starts. So, who do we have the honor of meeting?" she thickly drawled, stretching her neck to see who was standing behind the gum-chewing nuisance.

Kai and Sam stepped out from behind the rep for polite introductions. "This is Kai Smith, one of Ninjago's _official Protectors_, and his new wife Samantha," the rep explained. "They just got married on Saturday, on _national television_," she added, subtly pointing out to the singer the prominence of the guests she had almost snubbed.

"Sorry, honeybunch, I just simply haven't had time to watch any television," she answered the rep breezily, as if she were unaware of the rep's hostility, or choosing to ignore it.

"But I watched." The nephew, appearing to be in his late 20s, stepped out in front of his aunt, neatly dressed in business casual style wearing a sport coat, gingham shirt, dark denim jeans, and cowboy boots. "Howdy, I'm Dirk Meadow, Clo's nephew," he introduced himself as he shook the couple's hands. "Sorry for being rude earlier. Aunt Clo, why don't we invite these nice people into the dressing room?" he said stepping out of the way so that the Smiths could walk past.

"Of course," Clo practically purred. "What can we offer you folks to drink? A Coke? Something stronger? " she asked, ushering Kai and Sam inside. Behind their backs, she waggled her fingers at the rep before happily closing the door on her.

Half-full boxes of clothes, makeup, and other items littered the floor, but the beverage area appeared to be intact and well stocked. The Smiths waved off the offer of a drink.

Clo poured a bourbon and proceeded to quaff half its contents. Dirk picked up a whiskey bottle and, in a gentler fashion, filled a glass for himself.

"Well, I guess y'all must know me, since you came to visit me. Do tell us a little about yourself," Clo said, cradling her glass with hands adorned with bright red false fingernails.

"Yeah, don't you have a special power or something, Kai?" Dirk inquired. "I heard that each ninja can do something different."

Kai blushed. "That's true. I am the master of fire."

"Oooh, let's see you master some fire, then!" Clo urged. Dirk paused his drinking, waiting expectantly.

Kai grinned, always happy to show off his skills. "Well, OK." He let go of Sam's hand, took a few steps away from the group, extended his arm, and ignited a ball of fire in the palm of his hand.

Clo and Dirk were impressed. Sam chuckled at her husband's exhibitionist tendencies. Kai stepped back to the group and grasped his wife's hand once more.

Dirk noticed this. He held up his glass, as if toasting the couple. "Well, my friends, I'm a firm believer that marriage should last until death do you part, and judging by the way y'all look at each other, I can tell your marriage will be one of those."

"That's my plan," Kai replied, smiling at Sam.

Just then, a knock on the door was heard just prior to its opening. In walked a short young man about Dirk's age. His burly arms stretched the sleeves of his black "Clo" T-shirt. Beneath the bill of his black ballcap, his eyes displayed evidence of Down syndrome.

"Mama, we're ready for some more boxes," he proudly announced. Then he noticed Kai and Sam. "Howdy, sir. Howdy, Miss Daisy," he said in greeting.

Clo spoke in the tone of a kindergarten teacher. "Luke, honeybunch, this lady's name is actually Miss Samantha, and this is her husband, Mr. Kai. And guess what, Luke? Mr. Kai is a ninja!"

Luke's eyes widened. "Really, Mr. Kai? Oooh, can you show me some ninja stuff? I've been practicing some moves!" He began to wildly punch the air in front of him.

"Easy there, big fella!" Dirk put his hand on Luke's shoulder to stop him. "Folks, this is our favorite crewman, my cousin Big Luke."

Before Kai and Sam could say anything, Luke noticed the drink in Dirk's other hand. "Hey, Dirk, you promised I could have some of your special juice the next time you drank it."

"First you have to finish your work, honeybunch," his mother pointed out.

Luke frowned. "No fair! Dirk gets to have special juice whenever he wants!" he shouted. He ran into the bathroom and locked the door.

Clo followed him and pounded on the door. "Luke Amos Fielding, you come out of that bathroom this instant!"

Amid the shouting and the pounding, Kai and Sam looked at each other, realizing that they should leave the family alone to solve this squabble. "Well, it was nice meeting you and your family, Dirk," Sam spoke, "but we should probably go now and say hello to Daisy Clampett."

Dirk cleared his throat and guzzled the last of his drink. "Well, uh, you probably won't want to take too much of her time because, uh, Daisy'll likely be anxious to get home to Shiloh Valley."

"Of course," Sam murmured, silently wondering why Dirk cared how Daisy spent her time.

As Kai and Sam left Clo Fielding's dressing room and walked back down the hall to see Daisy Clampett, Kai whispered to Sam, "I hope meeting Daisy isn't as chaotic as meeting Clo was!"


	3. Meeting Daisy

**AUTHOR'S NOTE (01 Oct 2019):**

**I know, I know. I can't believe it, either. Two chapters with two days! XD**

* * *

**Chapter 3 - Meeting Daisy**

"It's so nice to meet y'all!" an effusive Daisy Clampett commented in her dressing room during the introductions between herself and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. "I saw a little bit of y'all on TV the other day, and what I saw was awesome. Congratulations on your wedding!"

Kai and Sam smiled and thanked her.

"Being married is wonderful," the blonde singer remarked with a happy sigh. "My Bud and I got hitched a year ago, and every day we're together, it still feels like we're on our honeymoon."

"Of course," she frowned, "I haven't seen him too much since our honeymoon, what with me being on the road so much touring with Clo, and Bud needing to stay back home in Shiloh Valley for his job and for taking care of his grandma."

"But," Daisy's demeanor brightened once more, "if we have a couple more good years like the one we're having this year, what with the new album making the Top 20 chart, Bud can quit his job and hire someone full time to look after his grandma, and then he can come with me on the road!"

Daisy walked over to a trunk and opened the lid, revealing dozens of copies of her CD. She selected one and opened it up, then grabbed a permanent marker from the trunk as well.

"Let me autograph a CD for y'all!"

While Daisy wrote, Sam looked around the dressing room. The intricately decorated hat and leather jacket which the singer had worn on stage was now draped over the back of her dressing chair.

"I love your stage outfit!" Sam gushed. "Turquoise is my favorite color."

Daisy beamed. "Thank you! Would you like to try on my stuff? The turquoise would match your eyes perfectly."

"That's for sure," Kai nodded in agreement.

Sam was thrilled at the opportunity. "I'd love to!"

"Well, then why don't you go ahead and put it on, and I'll take a look at you as soon as I visit Aunt Hannah."

Kai and Sam looked at her blankly.

"That's how we say 'I have to use the bathroom' in Shiloh Valley," the singer whispered.

The couple chuckled.

"And, maybe, as long as you're here," she added hesitantly, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly, "would it be too much to ask if you could hang out here for just a little while and keep an eye on things while I take a quick shower? I'd ask my assistant, but she's out doing a favor for Dirk and running an errand in downtown Shanville. I figure I can trust a ninja and his wife to 'hold down the fort' for a few minutes, right?"

Kai puffed out his chest. "Piece of cake!"

"Much obliged!" Daisy grinned. "I'm meeting some old friends for dinner here in Shanville before I take off with my crew later tonight, and I don't want to smell like a barnyard!" Daisy laughed as she slipped into the small adjacent bathroom and closed the door.

Kai turned his attention to the turquoise hat and jacket. "So Sam, let's see what you look like in a star's outfit." He lifted the rhinestone studded leather coat off the back of the chair while she set her purse down on the floor and took off her identification lanyard, stuffing it into the bag.

"Kinda heavy," he commented, and he held it open while she slipped her arms into it. "Must be due to all the rhinestones."

"Gorgeous!" she remarked, looking into the dressing room mirror as she settled into the garment and adjusted the lapels.

"And so is the jacket!" Kai chuckled, looking into the mirror from behind her shoulder.

Sam turned her head to face him. "You're such a charmer," she declared, puckering her lips to await a quick kiss.

Kai obliged her before placing the intricately decorated cowboy hat on his wife's head. "Wow, Sam, you and Daisy could almost be twins! I see how Luke could make the mistake that he did."

Sam turned back toward the mirror to see for herself. "Wow is right! Now if I could only sing like her, then we'd be raking in the money!" she laughed.

"Say, Kai," a male voice suddenly called.

Kai turned to see Dirk standing in the open doorway. Leaving Sam to stand at the mirror and admire the outfit, he walked over to find out what Dirk wanted.

"I'd be much obliged if you could help load some of Aunt Clo's boxes on her bus," Dirk requested in a quiet voice. "She's anxious to get back home and the sooner we're loaded, the sooner we can get on the road."

"Sure!" Kai agreed. "I'll be back in a few minutes," he told his wife before leaving the room. She backhanded a weak wave, preoccupied with looking into the mirror and pretending to sing into an imaginary microphone.

"So where's the little lady?" Dirk asked Kai as they walked the few yards to Clo's dressing room.

_He must be referring to Daisy, 'cause she wasn't in the room, _Kai thought. "She had to use the bathroom," he answered.

They arrived in the dressing room, which was now nearly empty of Clo's belongings.

"OK, if you could carry those couple of boxes out to the tour bus, that'd be great. One of the crew members can tell you exactly where to put 'em. I gotta take care of some other things real quick but I'll see you in a few minutes. Thanks again!" And with a wave, Dirk was gone.

Kai stacked some boxes in his capable arms and exited the building.

* * *

Inside Daisy's dressing room, Sam was enjoying her opportunity to wear the country music singer's stage hat and jacket.

_Oh, I should take a picture of me wearing this! Brooke would get a kick out of it!_ Sam thought, smiling at the imagined reaction of her dear fashion-conscious friend upon seeing the image.

She bent down to retrieve her device from her purse on the floor. Standing up again, she pointed it at the mirror with one hand, placed her free hand on her hip, and snapped a few pictures of her reflection.

_I'll try a different pose now_, she thought. She held the brim of the hat down over one eye and took a few more pictures.

She decided to change her pose once again but, unfortunately, she accidentally let go of her phone. She quickly grabbed it in midair but it slipped out of her hand once again and hit the ground, tumbling under the makeup counter.

_Oh, please don't be broken! _Sam begged the device as she got down on her hands and knees to retrieve it.

The next thing she knew, a cloth was firmly placed over her nose and mouth.

_What the...Wait! I know that smell!_ she thought.

_Chloro...form…_


	4. Meeting Disaster

**AUTHOR'S NOTE (03 Oct 2019):**

**Hey there! Hope everyone is doing well!**

**I wish to send a big thank-you to Taiski for faving this story!**

**A reference to events in my story **_**The Fire Within: The Valentine Incident**_ **is included toward the end of the chapter below...**

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Meeting Disaster**

"Much obliged to you, Kai, for taking out my aunt's boxes," Dirk told Kai upon the ninja's return from the tour bus area to Clo's nearly vacated dressing room. All that was left was a few tote bags and a large wooden crate, painted red. "Now you run along and have a good time now," he urged, wanting the red ninja to leave.

"Helping out was no problem," Kai replied. He spotted the red crate, sitting on the floor next to Dirk, and pointed toward it. "I can take that crate as well."

"Ah...no…don't worry about that one, Kai," Dirk smiled weakly. "Someone else will...uh...take care if it. You go along and enjoy your vacation with your wife. Wouldn't want you to use up all your strength...you'll need it tonight to fulfill your marital duties...heh heh…" he laughed half-heartedly, beginning to sweat.

"Don't worry, I'm a ninja. I've got plenty of strength," the red ninja smirked. He wrapped his arms around the wooden box and lifted it. "Hmm, it is a little heavy. What do you have in here, Dirk? A body?"

"Heh heh...good one," Dirk chuckled, though he looked like he was about to vomit.

But Kai didn't notice, for he had already left the dressing room with the crate, heading once again to the tour bus area.

* * *

When Kai returned to Clo's dressing room from the bus area, no one was in there and the remaining tote bags were gone. He shrugged, rolling his eyes at recalling the strangeness of Clo and her nephew, and then he went back down the hall to Daisy's dressing room. To his surprise, Sam was not in there.

Just then, Daisy walked out of the bathroom, wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and a towel wrapped around her wet hair.

"Hey, thanks again for keeping an eye on things," she smiled. Looking around, she asked, "Where's Sam?"

Kai was perplexed. "I don't know, Daisy. She was here when I left to go help Dirk move a few things out of Clo's dressing room, and when I got back here just now, she was gone."

"Maybe she had to go visit Aunt Hannah, too," Daisy guessed, her lips puckered in thought, "and since I was using the bathroom in here, she left to find another one."

Kai nodded. "That makes sense. She's a conscientious gal, so she wouldn't have left your room unattended unless she had a good reason. I would think she'd be back really soon. She left her purse here, I see," he observed, noting his wife's bag sitting on the floor.

"She must still be wearing my stage outfit," Daisy realized. "I don't see it around here. I don't blame her for liking it - I also think it's beautiful!"

Suddenly, the ringtone of a familiar song chimed.

Daisy grinned as she searched around for the source of the sound. "That's my Bud calling," she explained as she reached inside a tote bag and pulled out her device. "I set incoming calls from him to trigger the ringtone of the first number one hit off my album."

"I'll go outside and wait for Sam and give you some privacy while you talk to him, then," he told her, picking up from the counter the autographed CD she had given to him and Sam. She nodded gratefully while answering her phone. "Hey, sweet thing..." he heard her say into the receiver as he walked out of the room.

Kai leaned against the outside wall and opened the CD case to look at the liner notes. He read Daisy's written thanks to all her family, friends, and fans who had helped her reach stardom. He also read the background she had provided regarding the origin of each of the CD's songs. From what she had penned, Daisy seemed like a humble, down-to-earth kind of person.

Finally looking up from the CD, Kai realized that quite a bit of time had passed since he had returned to Daisy's dressing room, and Sam still hadn't shown up. He began to worry.

Kai reentered the dressing room once again, where Daisy was continuing her call with her husband. He headed to where Sam's purse lay on the floor and bent down to pick it up. From his low vantage point, he spotted her phone under the makeup counter and grabbed it before standing up again.

_How did her phone end up under the counter?_ he wondered. Then he thought, _Maybe someone sent her a message which caused her to go somewhere_. He unlocked her phone, knowing her password was _KaiSmithisgr8_, in order to check her texts.

The first thing he saw on her phone was an out-of-focus photo, taken from a crazy angle and looking like it was pointed at the dressing room mirror. On one side of the picture, he could make out a reflection of Sam's blonde hair dangling over the shoulder of Daisy's turquoise leather jacket. On the other side of the photo, a reflection of Luke Fielding, carrying a red crate, could be seen outside the dressing room door.

_What was Luke doing all the way down by Daisy's dressing room with that red crate?_ the red ninja mused. _And if he was carrying it loosely in the picture, it must have been fairly empty, so how did he manage to fill it with heavy stuff in the short time I was out at the bus?_

A feeling of dread suddenly appeared in his chest and flowed down to his feet as he put two and two together.

And nausea threatened to overtake him, at the realization that he himself had been the one to carry the red crate to the bus area.

The last time he had found Sam's purse abandoned, laying on the ground on a cold February night outside of the Bounty, she had been kidnapped.

He feared that history, like the chorus of one of Daisy's songs, was repeating itself.


	5. Meeting Additional Disaster

**AUTHOR'S NOTE (06 Oct 2019):**

**I hope everyone's October is going well so far!**

**References to two of my **_**The Fire Within**_ **stories, **_**Rehearsal of Danger**_ **and **_**A Mayoral Vote**_**, are included in the chapter below...**

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Meeting Additional Disaster**

"...and I finally found the tour buses going along Route 23, so now I'm following them and trying to stay out of sight."

Kai was riding his elemental dragon by the late evening moonlight, following the highway leading from Shanville to Minhamburg, and talking on Sam's cell phone to his family on the Bounty, informing them about what had happened. They had placed his call on their phone's loudspeaker so that they could all hear him at the same time.

"Oh, Kai, I'm so sorry this is all happening on your honeymoon!" Nya lamented, her voice reflecting her worry for the well being of her new sister-in-law.

"Kai, I'm not sure you should be rescuing her on your own, without any help," Cole spoke up. "Anyone who's capable of kidnapping probably has no qualms about doing worse things."

Cole inwardly shuddered at the memory of last Friday night's taxicab carjacking, in which he and his beloved girlfriend Brooke became hostages to three bank robbers. Before the couple managed to defeat their captors, the ruthless thugs had planned to kill Cole and drag Brooke with them to their getaway location, with one thug looking forward to violating her. And the very next night, Cole's own father, along with the mayor of Ninjago City, had been taken hostage and almost killed by that scumbag of a sorcerer, Sebastian.

Zane spoke next. "I agree with Cole, Kai. I believe you should get the local authorities involved."

"Well, I'd rather not wait around for the law enforcers to get their search warrants and all that," the red ninja commented. "And I'm not sure that Luke is truly capable of doing something malicious. It'll just be quicker for me to retrieve Sam and then have a talk with Clo about what her son did. Then she can get more resources to help him, and Sam and I can get right back to enjoying our honeymoon, since our vacation time is limited. I guess I might as well tell you guys that tomorrow, Sam and I are heading to the Mosky Mountains. Nya already knows, 'cause I left a copy of the itinerary with her."

Kai could hear a piece of paper rattling on the other end of the phone, and then he heard Jay's voice. "Oooh, yeah, private cabin in the woods, accessible only by horseback. Very niiiiice, Romeo!"

The sounds of guffawing filled Kai's ear.

"Nya!" the red ninja scolded his sister. "You were supposed to keep the itinerary a secret!"

"Dude, secrets don't stay secrets on this ship for long!" Lloyd laughed.

"Well, you're lucky that I'm going to hang up now and not chew you guys out. The tour buses just got off the highway at an exit with a Red Bell gas station and now they're heading down a country road in a woodsy area, so I'm going to have to move in closer to track them through the trees."

"Wait, Kai, do not hang up yet," Zane cautioned. "Sensei Wu has just walked into the room and -"

Kai interrupted. "Tell Sensei I said hello, but right now I need to go!"

And with that, the red ninja hung up Sam's phone and guided his dragon lower toward the ground.

* * *

Kai watched from behind a magnolia tree as the occupants of the three tour buses exited the vehicles, which were parked in the front courtyard of an elegant mansion. He was trying to determine in which bus the red crate was stored. Earlier that day, when he had carried the crate out of Clo's dressing room and brought it outside, the crew people had told him to leave it there, and they would find out from Dirk where to put it.

Kai observed Clo, the first person to get off a bus, stomping into the house. She was soon followed by the various band members and crew people, some stretching, some laughing, some yawning as they descended the steps of the buses. All headed to the stately mansion's entrance.

"It's nice that Dirk is letting us relax here tonight and wait until morning to unpack the buses," Kai heard one crewman comment to another. "And I'm definitely going to take him up on his offer of liquor. I need a drink after being around cranky Clo for all those hours. Wonder why she didn't spend the ride in her room taking a nap like she usually does..."

In about 20 minutes, it appeared that all travelers had exited the three buses. But then the red ninja spotted Dirk and Luke disembarking the same bus from which Clo had exited. They appeared to be having an argument.

"But, Dirk, I want to keep that extra special juice in my bedroom!" Luke insisted as he jumped from the bottom bus step onto the ground.

Dirk followed Luke down the steps. "For the last time, Luke, it's going to stay in this bus until you finish your special job, and THEN you can have some more sips."

Dirk turned around and pushed the bus' two accordion doors together in the closed position, then he wound a chain around the handles and secured them with a padlock. Kai, from his vantage point behind the magnolia tree, watched them make their way inside the home, with Luke continuing to pester his cousin.

Kai inwardly seethed. _Sam must be in that bus, 'cause it's the only one Dirk locked up, and since Dirk locked it up, he was somehow involved in the kidnapping, too! Why'd they do this?!_

Kai waited until the crickets in the surrounding woods resumed their summer night symphony, then he quietly approached the locked up bus. Finding that one of the windows was slightly open, he forced it to yield a larger opening, then he squeezed his body through the access and landed on his feet inside.

The bus' interior was nearly pitch black, so Kai formed a small flame in his hand to use as a light source.

The bus was messy. Food wrappers and empty bottles littered the kitchen area. Newspapers and magazines were strewn about the small living room area. The clutter hampered his search for the crate.

In a few minutes, however, Kai discovered the crate in what he surmised was Clo's bedroom compartment at the back of the vehicle. The box sat on top of the bed.

_No wonder Clo couldn't take a nap. The crate was in the way._

As Kai was figuring out how to open the wooden container in order to extract Sam, his sensitive hearing picked up a voice outside the bus. The red ninja swiftly extinguished the flame in his palm to prevent being seen through the windows, and he quickly decided to hide near the main door at the front of the bus, just in case the person outside happened to be Dirk who was reentering the vehicle. Kai planned to ambush Dirk before the scumbag had any chance of moving Sam.

"I'll show him! I'll get the juice myself. He doesn't know I saw him put the padlock key under the flower vase!" muttered the voice.

_It's Luke! I'll hide and wait to see what he does before I show myself._

Unfortunately, the bus' interior was nearly pitch black, so as Kai crouched down next to the main door, he unknowingly pushed his foot against a small object tucked against the wall, and it made a crunching sound, as if he had smashed glass.

_Did I break a bottle?_ he wondered.

Seconds later, he smelled a chemical.

_I did break a bottle...of chloro...form..._


End file.
